Limitations of Conventional Geothermal and How Berken's GTV™ Overcomes Them

Yesterday's Realities
Around the world geothermal hot spots have been identified as having the potential to serve the demand for electricity without creating more carbon emissions. In the past, these have been few in number and far away from where the demand has been.

Current geothermal technologies use the earth’s natural heat to drive turbines. These take up to five years to construct, and the moving parts increase maintenance costs.

Today's Realities
Solid State TEG generation with an initiation temperature of 100ºF expands the areas accessible to geothermal production. Existing well data indicates that 80% of the country can now have geothermal power.This same data eliminates the need for expensive exploration and indicates most sites are already on the grid negating the high costs of transmission lines and permits.

The above topology chart shows heat at three miles down. Black, yellow and gray show the breadth of areas that can take advantage of Berken's GTV™ technology.

The application of this patent-pending, cost-effective technology demonstrates a multitude of advantages over current geothermal generation technologies:

Availability of Oil and Gas Drilling Sites

There are over 1M abandoned oil and gas wells globally. Many already contain hot water.

There are over 600,000 abandoned oil wells in Texas alone.

In oil and gas systems, when a well produces much more water than oil, they shut it down because the cost of collecting and disposing of the water is greater than the value of the oil.

A study by Southern Methodist University estimates another 6,000 to 11,000 megawatts of potential electricity can be generated from existing oil and gas well.

There are many limitations with geothermal technology. Not only is sufficient heat available in very few locations, but most qualified areas (e.g. Western States, Alaska and Hawaii) are already in use or off-limits.

The Future — Now
Berken's GeoThermoVoltaic (GTV™) largely eliminates these limitations by providing a robust technology that has several advantages to conventional geothermal. Laboratory testing has shown that the initial power generation begins at 50°C with peak commercial viability output beginning and continuing upwards of 80°C. This opens up a whole new realm for making geothermal energy the predominant source of electricity in the United States. World potential is unlimited.

This opens up a whole new realm for making geothermal energy the predominant source of electricity in the United States. World potential is unlimited.

Device captures Earth’s heat

Requires only 100°C heat ranges

Shallower well deployment (< 10,000 feet)

24/7 Operation

It's true that conventional geothermal is efficient; however, most geothermal sites are already in use or off-limits due to environmental protection laws. That's where we come in: there are thousands of oil and gas wells already drilled and abandoned that can be upgraded for GTV™ applications!

How much energy can GTV™ produce?
Current samples are producing 150 watts per square foot. Developments are underway to improve that further.